Inspiring the Wolf (part 1)

Origin of Ideas

In the spring of 2008, I moved to Flagstaff, Arizona. When you’re solo in a new town except for your best dog friend, you have a lot of time to think, imagine, and dream. Most of my dreaming took place on the Flagstaff Urban Trail System (FUTS), which crisscrosses Flagstaff, and was my backyard for three and half years. It was here, in the late spring, that my imagination introduced me to Garrett. The image in my mind was that of a boy, about twelve, and a city in flames around him. So, I wrote the story of that scene.

Most writers will tell you that a story starts with one image, one scene, and builds from there, and in the case of Fire Wolf, that’s entirely true. I started asking myself questions about the world, about the people, about the politics of the kingdoms, about the magic, and I managed to fill ten pages with history and myths and character ideas and sketches. I even wrote a few more scenes, realizing that initial scene was more of a prologue to the story, before I had to set the project aside because I was always so busy with the day job.

During the years the files were locked away on my computer, the story stuck with me. I couldn’t shake Garrett or Myah from my head, and I knew it was only a matter of time before I reopened their story and got to work. After some research, I realized that many of my original ideas for the novel, although uncommon in young adult fantasy literature when I first dreamed them, had flooded the indie market.

The original story idea included a lot of elemental magic, inspired by nature and the woods I walked through everyday in Flagstaff. Now, although magic plays a key part in the story, the elemental magic has taken on a different role. Spellweavers are now the guardians of magic, but they cannot control the elements. They can heal, attack, and defend, but they cannot conjure a wind, start a fire, or flood a plain. Why? Well, I even have an origin myth for the reasons behind that, but you’ll have to wait to read the book for that one.

As for the elemental magic. It’s still there. You just have to know where to look.

Missed the excerpts from Fire Wolf? You can read teaser one here and teaser two here.